1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to measurement devices and more measurement guide for shrink tubing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Carpenters, construction workers, industrial facility personnel, and other workers regularly use hand tools on a job site. Dropped hand tools can cause injury or death to workers below a work area, damage to equipment, loss of tools, and costly plant shut downs due to dropped tools. For example, a wrench or other hand tool dropped into cooling water at a nuclear facility may require shut down of the system so that the tool can be retrieved. To reduce or prevent inadvertent tool drops, job site safety rules often require workers to tether hand tools to the worker or nearby structure.
One method of tethering a hand tool includes clipping one end of a tether to an opening through the handle of a tool (e.g., an adjustable wrench) and to clip the other end of the tether to the worker's belt or to a nearby structure. When workers properly tether a tool in this way, accidental drops can be eliminated or substantially reduced.
Some hand tools and equipment lack an opening, hook, or other feature that enables the user to securely attach a tether. Tools such as, for example, tubing tongs, valve wheel wrenches, spud wrenches, pipe wrenches, hammers, alignment bars and the like used in construction have posed a particular challenge since these tools often have a smooth handle, two working ends, or a handle that tapers towards one end. Such features render these tools particularly difficult for securely attaching a tether to the tool.
To address this situation, one tethering method uses shrink tubing to connect a tethering tab to the tool, where the tethering tab includes a D-ring connector. One connector strap known to some as a “web tail” is a length of webbing with a first end looped through the connector and then secured to itself to attach the connector loop to the length of webbing. The first end of the webbing provides a first catch where the end of the webbing is doubled on itself. A second end of the webbing is folded or double folded on itself and then stitched together or otherwise secured in this position to define a second catch where the webbing is doubled or tripled on itself.
FIG. 1 illustrates a front perspective view of one embodiment of a web tail 10 that includes a closed-loop connector 15 suitable for attaching a tether (not shown). Web tail 10 has a first catch 12, a second catch 14, and a middle portion 11 between first catch 12 and second catch 14. In one embodiment, web tail 10 is made from a length of webbing 13 with a first end 13a, a second end 13b, and a middle portion 11. Webbing 13 has a front face 13a and a back face 13b. First end 10a is looped through closed-loop connector 15 and secured to the length of webbing 13, such as by stitching. By doing so, closed-loop connector 15 is secured to the length of webbing 13. Also, first end 10a defines a first catch 12 where it meets middle portion 11. Second end 10b is folded on itself and secured to the length of webbing 13, such as by stitching, to define a second catch 14 adjacent middle portion 11 and spaced apart from first catch 12 by middle portion 11. In one embodiment, webbing 13 is woven nylon with a width of about ½ inch and an overall webbing length of about three inches. After folding and securing ends 13a, 13b, web tail 10 has an overall web tail length of about three inches. Other types of webbing and different lengths, widths, and thicknesses are acceptable for web tail 10.
A tethering tab or web tail 10 can be attached to the tool handle by using heat-shrink tubing positioned around the tool handle with the web tail between the heat-shrink tubing. First, a tethering tab is aligned with and placed along the tool handle or other convenient portion of the hand tool. Next, a length of heat-shrink tubing is positioned over the hand tool and body of the tethering tab with the closed-loop connector extending out from the tubing and positioned for attachment to a tether. The first catch and the second catch are typically positioned outside and beyond the ends of the shrink tubing. After positioning the heat-shrink tubing, the tubing is heated to constrict it to a smaller size and conform to the tool handle and tethering tab. Heat-shrink tubing installed in this manner is useful to attach a tethering tab to the tool handle for small, light-weight tools, such as a writing implement or screwdriver.
Referring now to FIG. 2, a perspective view illustrates web tail 10 positioned against and aligned longitudinally with an installation portion 6 of an implement or hand tool 5. First catch 12 and second catch 14 each face outwardly away from hand tool 5. Shrink tubing 20 is installed over middle portion 11 of web tail 10 and installation portion 6 of hand tool 5.